Strategies for presenting a recommendation as supplemental information

ABSTRACT

This application describes systems, methods, and techniques for presenting supplemental information. The systems, methods, and techniques described herein determine that a message includes a keyword and, based at least on the identified keyword, determine at least one item to recommend. The message can be annotated with an identifier of the recommended item, and responsive to activation of the identifier, the supplemental information regarding the item can be presented.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/399,937, filed Feb. 17, 2012, whichclaims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/264,817, filedNov. 1, 2005, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,122,086 on Feb. 21, 2012.Application Ser. Nos. 13/399,937 and 11/264,817 and U.S. Pat. No.8,122,086 are fully incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This subject matter generally relates to strategies for presenting aseries of messages to a user. In a more particular exemplaryimplementation, this subject matter relates to strategies for presentingan online discussion board or like messaging mechanism to the user.

BACKGROUND

The Internet has fostered the growth of many new forms of communication.One of the most popular forms of communication is the so-calleddiscussion board. A discussion board provides an online forum thatallows users to view messages posted by other users and to respond toselected messages. A discussion board will commonly cater to a specifictheme, which may be relatively broad or quite narrow. For instance,discussion boards have been created to discuss politics, child care,music, television shows, technical matters, products of various kinds,and so on.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two well-known paradigms for organizing messages in adiscussion board. Beginning with FIG. 1, this figure shows apresentation 100 that organizes messages using a so-called “flat”listing paradigm. Namely, this presentation 100 shows an exemplary sevenmessages (102-114) arranged in chronological order based on the timesthat the respective messages (102-114) were posted. That is, message 102was posted first, followed by message 104, followed by message 106, andso on. Each message includes a message portion that identifies the textof the message. For instance, the first message 102 includes a messageportion 116. Each message can also include a metadata portion whichconveys salient information pertaining to the message. For instance, thefirst message includes a metadata portion 118 that identifies the userwho posted the message 102, as well as the date and time at which theuser posted the message. In the exemplary case of FIG. 1, the overalldiscussion is directed to a literature-related theme; namely, thediscussion focuses on the New York Times list of best-selling books, asidentified by theme caption 120.

The flat method of organizing messages has merit in that the user canquickly grasp the chronological flow of the conversation by scanning thediscussion from top to bottom. For example, the last posting in thediscussion identifies the most recent comment. However, this paradigm isnot without its drawbacks. For example, a user may scan thechronological list of messages and choose to reply to a posting that isnot the most recent posting. This may be problematic because it maygenerate a thematic discontinuity in the thread of messages. Consider,for example, the case in FIG. 1 in which the general topic pertains to abook written by a hypothetical author, John Smith. The first fourmessages (102-108) develop in a rather logical progression, with eachuser replying to an immediately preceding posting. However, thediscussion becomes disjointed thereafter, with subsequent users choosingto reply to earlier messages in the sequence. Indeed, for example, thelast user posts a message (i.e., message 114) that responds to a ratheroff-topic theme in response to a message (i.e., message 108) in themiddle the sequence. This creates potential confusion, as a casualglance at the sequence does not immediately reveal the nexus between thelast message and the other messages in the sequence.

FIG. 2 shows a presentation 200 that organizes messages using aso-called “nested” listing paradigm. Namely, this presentation 200illustrates the same exemplary seven messages (102-114) as shown in FIG.1, but arranges these messages in a manner which more clearlyillustrates the nexus among messages. More specifically, in the nestedparadigm, a message that is in reply to an earlier message is indentedbeneath that earlier message. For example, message 104 is in response tomessage 102, and is therefore indented beneath message 102. Message 106is in response to message 104, and is therefore indented under message104, and so on. This strategy overcomes the difficulty in the flatparadigm of FIG. 1, because it more clearly conveys the logicalprogression of messages. For example, the off-topic message 114 postedby the last user is now positioned directly beneath the message 108 itis in reply to, eliminating the confusion in the flat paradigm as to whythis seemingly aberrant message was posted in the context of adiscussion regarding a book.

Nevertheless, the nested paradigm is not without its own drawbacks. Tobetter convey the relationships among messages, the nested viewpotentially presents messages out of chronological order. The thread ofmessages may therefore not readily convey a general sense of thechronological flow of the conversation, or easily convey earliest ormost recent messages posted. Moreover, a thread that is highly nestedmay include many levels of indentations. This may create a difficult andunpleasant reading experience. Further, in practice the user may havedifficulty visually tracing the indented layout to determine orfollowing the relationship among messages.

Other alternative user interface paradigms have been proposed. However,these paradigms are also not fully satisfactory for one or more reasons.

For at least the above-identified reasons, there is a need for moresatisfactory strategies for presenting messages to users.

SUMMARY

Functionality is described herein for presenting a chronologicalsequence of messages to the user. The functionality additionallyannotates the messages with identifiers. Some of the identifiers conveythe manner in which the identified messages relate to other messages inthe sequence. The functionality therefore uniquely combines the meritsof both a flat paradigm for organizing messages (by virtue of thearrangement of the messages in chronological order) and the nestedparadigm for organizing messages (by virtue of the linking identifiersadded to the messages).

According to another exemplary feature, the functionality can add anidentifier to a subject message which, upon activation, invokes thepresentation of another message which has some relationship to thesubject message. The functionality can present such other message in apop-up display panel or other kind of presentation.

According to another exemplary feature, the functionality can add anidentifier to a subject message which invokes the presentation of otherkinds of supplemental information, such as item-related information.Thus, for example, if the subject message mentions a certain item, thismessage can be annotated with an identifier which invokes thepresentation of supplemental information related to this item. Forinstance, the supplemental information may comprise a series ofrecommendations having a bearing on the item mentioned in the subjectmessage, or having some other bearing on the text content of the subjectmessage. The functionality can present such supplemental information ina pop-up display panel or other kind of presentation.

According to another exemplary feature, the functionality can customizethe sequence of messages to emphasize messages that may be of particularinterest to a user interacting with the sequence of messages. Forinstance, the functionality can add special identifiers that identifymessages posted by the user, messages that are in response to messagesposted by the user, messages that the user has responded to, and soforth.

According to another exemplary feature, the functionality can annotatethe message sequence with recommendations and other information itemsthat are specifically tailored to reflect the prior online behavior ofthe user and/or a collection of users. The behavior is potentiallyindicative of the user(s) interest in items. For instance, thefunctionality can present a recommendation to the user based on anassessment, derived from the user's prior online behavior, that the useris interested in a certain item. The functionality can also makerecommendations which rely on behavioral trends exhibited by acollection of users. Online behavior can be gauged by various useractions, such as, in one non-limiting case, the purchase of items.

According to another exemplary feature, the sequence of messages can beintegrated with a merchandising system which presents informationregarding a collection of items for possible purchase.

Additional exemplary implementations and attendant benefits aredescribed in the following.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a known flat-type paradigm for organizing messages in adiscussion board, as applied to a hypothetical collection of messages.

FIG. 2 shows a known nested-type paradigm for organizing messages in adiscussion board, as applied to the hypothetical collection of messagesintroduced in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary item-related user interface presentation forinvoking a discussion board presentation according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary discussion board presentation that can beinvoked by the item-related user interface presentation of FIG. 3,including a chronological sequence of annotated messages.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show exemplary behavior of the discussion boardpresentation of FIG. 4 upon the user's activation of identifiersassociated with messages in the sequence.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary behavior of the discussion board presentationof FIG. 4 upon the user's activation of an item-related identifierassociated with one of the messages in the sequence.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method for inline editing a message in thediscussion board presentation of FIG. 4.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary system for implementing the user interfacefeatures illustrated in FIGS. 3-8.

FIG. 10 shows the architecture of an exemplary operations center for usein the system of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a high-level conceptual diagram which illustrates the mannerof operation of a linking/identifying module used within the operationscenter of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 shows the architecture of an exemplary client device for use inthe system of FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary procedure for invoking a discussion boardpresentation.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary procedure for presenting a discussion boardpresentation to a user and allowing the user to interact with thepresentation.

The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and figures toreference like components and features. Series 100 numbers refer tofeatures originally found in FIG. 1, series 200 numbers refer tofeatures originally found in FIG. 2, series 300 numbers refer tofeatures originally found in FIG. 3, and so on.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure sets forth a messaging system that displays achronological sequence of messages to the user. This aspect provides a“flat-like” characteristic of the system. At the same time, the messagesare annotated with identifiers, some of which identify the relationshipof the identified messages to other messages in the sequence. Thisaspect contributes to a “nested-like” characteristic of the system.

As used herein, the term “discussion board” refers to a particular forumfor allowing contributors to engage in discussions. A discussion boardcan host multiple “discussion threads,” also referred to as“discussions.” Each discussion thread provides one or more messages,typically focused on an identified topic of conversation. Messages arealso synonymously referred to herein as “message posts” or simply“posts.” In a typical but non-limiting type of discussion board, theboard is administered as a shared repository of messages. The entity orentities which administer the board are typically unaffiliated with thecontributors to the board.

As used herein, the term “linking” has broad connation. It verygenerally refers to any kind of technology which associates one item ofinformation with another item of information. It encompasses the use ofany kind of pointer technology, mapping technology, hypertext linkingtechnology, and so on.

The term “item” refers to any kind of discrete resource, such as anykind of tangible or intangible product (including informationalresources), a service, and so forth.

The term “user activation” has broad connotation, to refer to eventsthat occur in direct response to express user actions, e.g., mouseclicks, rollovers (in which the user moves a pointer via a mouse orother input mechanism over a user interface field), etc., and/or eventsthat are only indirectly related to the user's actions (e.g., eventsbased on the general context of the user's interaction with a userinterface presentation, etc.), and so on.

The term “identifier” represents any kind of information that can beused to annotate a message. In one case, an identifier can be invoked tosupply supplemental information. In another case, the identifierconveys, in itself, the supplemental information.

The terms “machine-readable media” or the like refers to any kind ofmedium for retaining information in any form, including various kinds ofstorage devices (magnetic, optical, static, etc.). The termmachine-readable media also encompasses transitory forms of representinginformation, including various hardwired and/or wireless links fortransmitting the information from one site to another.

To facilitate explanation, this disclosure describes the inventivefeatures primarily in the context of a discussion board, as describedabove. However, the principles described herein are also applicable toother types of communication systems which present messages. Anon-exhaustive and non-limiting list of other kinds of technology thatcan benefit from the principles described herein include blogtechnology, instant messaging (IM) technology, newsgroups, any kind ofcollaborative editing technology (such as “Wiki” technology), Emailtechnology, any kind of comment thread technology (e.g., in the contextof comments on book reviews or product reviews, etc.), collaborativeindexing and cataloging technology, and so forth.

This disclosure includes the following sections. Section A describes theexemplary appearance and behavior of user interface presentations thatemploy an annotated sequence of messages. Section B presents anexemplary system for implementing the user interface presentations ofSection A. And Section C describes the operation of the system ofSection A in flowchart form.

A. Exemplary User Interface Presentations and their Behavior (FIGS. 3-8)

FIGS. 3-8 show exemplary user interface presentations that can be usedto present an annotated chronological sequence of messages according tothe present invention. The discussion board presentations are explainedin the context of the same series of messages introduced in the contextof FIGS. 1 and 2. The reader will appreciate that the content of thisseries of messages is merely illustrative.

A.1. Functionality for Invoking the Discussion Thread

To begin with, FIG. 3 shows one of many different ways that a discussionboard thread can be invoked within a particular discussion board(forum). Although not shown, a similar technique can be used to invokeone or more entirely different discussion boards (e.g., discussionforums).

As summarized in the chain of blocks on the left-hand portion of FIG. 3,one or more introductory or portal user interface presentations 302 canbe used to invoke a discussion thread presentation 304. Alternatively,in order to reach the discussion thread presentation 304, the user maybe prompted to advance through one or more intermediary user interfacepresentations 306.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary introductory user interface presentation 308.This user interface presentation 308 corresponds to an item display pageprovided by an online merchant. Namely, in this hypothetical case, theuser interface presentation 308 shows information regarding a novel by afictional author, John Smith, which can be purchased by the user throughthe services provided by the online merchant. This user interfacepresentation 308, in turn, can be reached in response to the user'sinput of one or more key terms, the user's selection of an entry incatalogue listing of items, and so forth. The user interfacepresentation 308 can include various well known types of fields, such asan item description section which provides salient information regardingthe item, a review section which provides reviews associated with theitem, and so forth.

In addition, the user interface presentation 308 can uniquely include asection 310 which provides a portal to one or more discussion threads.These discussion threads are selected because they all pertain in someway to the item under consideration, namely the book by John Smith. Thenexus between an item and related discussion threads can be determinedin various ways, such as by searching a collection of discussion threadsfor the key term “John Smith” (or some other relevant key term).

More specifically, section 310 includes a subsection 312 that identifiesfour exemplary threads of discussions that are active in a discussionboard. They include: a discussion thread entitled “John Smith's SeattleFans”; a discussion entitled “Smith's NYC Aficionados”; a discussionthread entitled “The Times Best Seller List”; and a discussion entitled“Bad Writer Rant.” This subsection 312 also provides an abbreviatedexample of a sampling of the messages that appear in each of thesediscussion threads. For instance, in FIG. 3, each discussion thread insubsection 312 displays the first line of the first three messages inthe discussion thread. Moreover, the user can explore any of theabbreviated messages from the sampling of messages in further detail bymoving his or her mouse cursor (or like navigation mechanism) over oneof the displayed messages. This prompts the presentation of a displaypanel 314. The display panel 314 provides the full text of the messagethat the user has selected via rollover. The use of the display panel314 allows the user to gain a better understanding of what is beingdiscussed in the discussion thread prior to formally committing toentering the discussion thread.

The section 310 can also include another subsection 316. This subsection316 allows the user to start a new discussion thread regarding the itemin question, the identified book by John Smith.

Assume for the purposes of illustration that the user activates thediscussion thread entitled “The Times Best Seller List.” This actioninvokes the display of the discussion board presentation 400 shown inFIG. 4.

As stated above, the same approach can be used to select entirelydifferent discussion boards (forums). In this case, the user can accessa desired discussion thread through a tiered access approach, where theuser first accesses a desired discussion board, and then accesses adesired discussion thread within the discussion board.

A.2. Overview of an Exemplary Discussion Board Presentation

The discussion board presentation 400 of FIG. 4 contains an exemplaryseries of messages (402-414) arranged in chronological order, forming aparticular discussion thread. More specifically, the series of messages(402-414) can potentially comprise a small subset of a larger body ofmessages, comprising the complete discussion thread. The user may accessother parts of the discussion thread (not shown) by activating a “nextpage” (or “previous page”) command, or the equivalent. Other possiblepage navigation commands (not shown) may allow the user to advance tothe first page of the thread or the last page of the thread, and so on.To facilitate explanation, the discussion thread will be describedmainly in the context of the exemplary series of messages (402-414).

The messages (402-414) are arranged in chronological order in the sensethat the first message 402 is posted prior to the second message 404,and the second message 404 is posted prior to the third message 406, andso on. This strategy therefore adopts a “flat” listing organization ofmessages. However, the messages in FIG. 4 also include specialannotations. Some of these annotations convey the manner in whichannotated messages are related to other messages in the discussionboard. By virtue of these annotations, the discussion board presentation400 also conveys the nested relationship among messages. Accordingly,the user interface presentation 400 shown in FIG. 4 uniquely combinesthe features of both the flat manner of organizing messages and thenested manner of organizing messages.

More specifically, consider the exemplary second message 404. Amongvarious conventional portions, this message 404 includes a messageportion 416. The message 404 also includes a “reply” field 418 that canbe activated to allow the user to reply to this message 404. Thismessage 404 also includes an author field 420 that identifies the authorwho posted this message 404. Further still, this message 404 includes atime field 422 that identifies when the author (the fictional“MrPrincetonHumanities”) posted the message 404.

In addition to the above fields, the message 404 uniquely includes twoidentifiers which identify how this message 404 is related in thesequence to other messages in the sequence. For example, an “In replyto” identifier 424 serves as a link which points to the message whichmessage 404 is in reply to. In this case, this identifier points tofirst message 402. Further, a “You replied to” identifier 426 identifiesa message entered by the user in response to the message 404. In theentirely exemplary case of FIG. 4, the user who happens to beinteracting with the discussion board presentation 400 is thehypothetical user “MonticelloBlues” (which can be determined based onthis user's sign-in information used to gain access to the discussionboard presentation 400, or by some other identification mechanism).Thus, the “You replied to” identifier 426 points to message 410, whichMonticelloBlues entered in response to the message 404, posted byMrPrincetonHumanities. As will be explained in greater depth shortly,activation of any one of these identifiers (424, 426) will invoke thedisplay of the messages that are linked to these identifiers. Namely,activation of the identifier 424 will invoke a display of message 402,and activation of identifier 424 will invoke a display of message 410.

In general, the series of chronological messages (402-414) defines adata structure. The data structure comprises a collection of messageportions, where each message portion provides message content and one ormore associated identifiers. Each identifier forms a subportion withinthe message portion. In one exemplary and non-limiting implementation,the identifier subportions are integrated with the message portions,such that the messages and identifiers form an integral presentation.

By virtue of the use of linking identifiers, the user can quicklydetermine the relationship among messages in the chronological sequenceof messages. For example, the user can quickly understand that theaberrant message 414 is in response to the mid-sequence message 408. Atthe same time, the use of the identifiers is unobtrusive. The user hasthe option of activating the identifiers (e.g., via mouse-over) toproduce the resultant display panels, and the user can easily remove theresultant display panels. So the chronological presentation of messagesis seeded with metadata that conveys the hierarchical relationship ofmessages in a manner that does not clutter the presentation or impedecomprehension of the thread of messages.

Another advantageous feature of the discussion board presentation 400 isits customization of the sequence of messages to suit the user who iscurrently interacting with the discussion board. Namely, the discussionboard presentation 400 highlights those messages that have a particularbearing on the user, MonticelloBlues. These messages include, forinstance, messages that MonticelloBlues posted, messages thatMonticelloBlues has responded to, and messages that other users haveposted in response to messages by MonticelloBlues. For example, anidentifier 428 identifies the message 410 that was posted by the userMonticielloBlues. The identifier 426, as explained above, identifies themessage 404 that the user, MonticelloBlues, responded to. An identifier430 identifies a message 412 that someone else, MrPrincetonHumanities,entered in response to a message by the user. By virtue of the usercustomization, the user's attention can be quickly directed to thosemessages that are most likely to interest the user. This feature furtherhas the potential of improving user experience by making the discussionboard presentation 402 easier to understand.

To summarize the discussion of FIG. 4 thus far, the following exemplaryand non-limiting message-related identifiers can be used to annotate theuser interface presentation of FIG. 4:

-   -   In reply to: this identifier annotates a subject message to        identify (e.g., to point to) what message the subject message is        in response to;    -   Replied to you: this identifier annotates a subject message to        identify the message as one that was posted in response to a        message from the user;    -   Your post: this identifier annotates a subject message to        identify the message as the user's own posting;    -   You replied on: this identifier annotates a subject message to        identify this message as a message that the user responded to,        and to identify the user's reply message; and    -   Replies to this message: this identifier annotates a subject        message to identify the messages posted by users that responded        to the subject message.    -   Last edited on: this identifier annotates a subject message to        identify the date on which the subject message was last edited.

It should be noted that, in the simplified context of FIG. 4, most ofthe messages are related to other messages presented on a single displaypage. However, in a more general context, a source message can includean identifier which links to a target message that is presented onanother page (and is therefore not presently visible to the user).Activation of such an identifier can invoke the presentation of thetarget message, such that the source message and the target message areconcurrently displayed (that is, displayed at the same time in one ormore display panels). This provision is particularly convenient, as itsupplies the user with the content of the target message withoutrequiring the user to change their present focus within the thread.

For example, in FIG. 4, note that message 414 includes a “You repliedto” identifier 432 which links to a message that is present on a laterpage (not shown). Activating this identifier 432 will prompt thefunctionality to present the content of the related message in thecontext of the page view shown in FIG. 4, that is, without requiring theuser to remove their focus on message 414.

Further, in the examples above, messages are related to other messagesin the context of a reply-related nexus. However, in other cases,messages can be related to other messages based on other types ofrelationships. For instance, identifiers can be added which establishthe relationship of messages among friends, family, individualsconversing on specific topics (e.g., as gleaned from keywords in themessages, etc.), and so on.

Additional information regarding exemplary behavior that is invoked uponthe activation of identifiers is presented below.

A.3. Display Panel Presentation in Response to Invocation of Identifiers

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the behavior of the user interface presentation400 when the user activates two of the linked identifiers. Namely, inthe case of FIG. 5, the user has activated the “You replied to”identifier 426. This invokes the presentation of a display panel 502which presents the message that the user, MonticelloBlues, entered inresponse to message 404. Namely, the display panel 502 presents the textof message 410. In the case of FIG. 6, the user has activated the “Inreply to” identifier 602 of message 414. This invokes the presentationof a display panel 604 which identifies the message (i.e., message 408)that this message (i.e., message 414) is in reply to. In the illustratedcase, the invoked messages (target messages) are displayed on the samepage as the invoking messages (source messages); although, as statedabove, the target messages can appear on other pages which are notcurrently being presented to the user.

According to one exemplary implementation, the display panels (502, 604)can be ephemeral presentations that will automatically appear when theuser rolls a mouse cursor over the identifiers (426, 602), and willautomatically disappear when the user moves the mouse cursor away fromthe identifiers (426, 602). Many other alternatives are possible,including:

-   -   The rollover activation of the identifiers (426, 602) can        automatically generate the display panels (502, 604). But to        remove these panels (502, 604), the user must click a close        command that appears on these panels (502, 604).    -   The user activates the identifiers (426, 602) by expressly        clicking on the identifiers (426, 602) (rather than merely        rolling over the identifiers with the mouse cursor). The panels        (502, 604) can be automatically removed when the user moves away        from the identifiers (426, 602) or in response to express action        taken by the user (e.g., by activating a close button).    -   The activation of the identifiers (426, 602) (in any manner)        invokes window-type presentations (not shown). This activating        event can entirely redirect the user from the discussion board        presentation 400 to the window-type presentations. For instance,        the window-type presentations can fill the entire display        screen. Deactivation of the window-type presentations returns        the user to the discussion board presentation 400.    -   The activation of the identifiers (426, 602) highlights the        linked messages in the chronological sequences of messages, but        otherwise does not present any kind of separate display panels        or window-type presentations. For instance, activation of the        identifiers (426, 602) can cause the linked messages to be        displayed in a different color or format (bold, italicized,        etc.), to flash, to change in size and/or background color, and        so forth. Or activation of the identifiers (426, 602) can cause        the presentation of arrows or other symbols which direct the        user's attention to the linked messages. Animation can also be        added to direct the user's attention to linked messages, such as        by drawing a circle around the messages, by providing a        gesturing character which “points” to the messages, and so on.

Still other implementations are possible. For instance, in one exemplaryimplementation, an activated display panel can itself include anadditional link. Activation of this link can invoke the presentation ofanother linked message within another display panel. This secondarydisplay panel can, in turn, include another link, which, when activated,can invoke the presentation of a tertiary display panel, and so on. Sucha series of display panels can be cascaded on the display screen ordisplayed in any other manner. This kind of presentation can allow theuser to progressively trace the course of a certain sequence of replymessages to its source (i.e., in response to the activation of asuccession of “In reply to” identifiers) without leaving the originalcontext of discussion.

As mentioned above, the term “activation” is to be construed liberallyto encompass any way of invoking supplemental information, includingexpress actions taken by a user (e.g., based on mouse clicks, rollovers,etc.), as well as indirect actions (e.g., based on the context of theuser's interaction with the discussion board).

Moreover, the above techniques for displaying linked messages can alsobe used to display any other kind of supplemental information associatedwith an activated identifier. For instance, the author fields shown inthe discussion board presentation 400 can include links which, whenactivated, invoke respective user profile displays (not shown) thatprovide information regarding the users who posted the messages.

A.4. Annotating the Presentation with Item Related Information

Advancing to FIG. 7, this figure shows a discussion board presentation700 that is a variation of the discussion board presentation 400 ofFIGS. 4-6. Namely, while this presentation 700 includes the same kindsof message-related annotations previously discussed, it also includesnon-message-related annotations. As the name suggests, thenon-message-related annotations do not serve a role in describing therelationship of messages to other messages or the authorship ofmessages. Rather, these messages link to any other kind of supplementalinformation that has a bearing on the messages.

In the specific case of FIG. 7, the supplemental information isitem-related information. One exemplary mechanism by which suchitem-related information can be identified and applied to a discussionboard is set forth below, with reference to the illustrative discussionboard presentation 700.

In one case, the entity that sponsors and/or administers the discussionboard presentation 700 is an online merchant. The online merchant sellsgoods or services (or more generally, “items”) via a digital network,such as the Internet. In doing so, the online merchant maintainsitem-related data stores (that describe merchandise or services forpurchase), transactional data stores (that define purchases and otheronline actions that have been made by users), and other kinds ofbusiness-related data stores. In operation, the online merchant can minethese data stores to extract supplemental information that has somebearing on the content being imparted by the discussion boardpresentation 700. The online merchant can then integrate thissupplemental information into the discussion board presentation 700 byannotating the presentation 700 with various identifiers which provide(or which can be invoked to provide) the supplemental information. Theobjective of annotating the discussion with supplemental information maybe commercial in nature—namely, to encourage the sale of goods orservices—but it can also be purely informational, or it may serve yetsome other objective.

More specifically, the online merchant can maintain a list of keywords.The keywords may correspond to item names, topics of interest to users,and so forth. The online merchant can scan each message as it isreceived, or periodically scan the discussion board as a whole, todetermine whether it contains one or more registered keywords. If so,the online merchant can present supplemental information pertaining tothe keywords, where such supplemental information is potentiallyextracted from the above-described data stores. This supplementalinformation can vary depending on the objectives of the merchant. In onecase, the supplemental information may describe items that the usermight be interested in purchasing, where the items have somerelationship to one or more keywords that appear in the discussionboard.

In one case, the online merchant can present identifiers whichautomatically populate the discussion board with the supplementalinformation, without involvement by the user. In another case, theonline merchant can present identifiers which need to be invoked by theuser in order to receive the supplemental information.

The specific examples which follow are illustrative of many ways thatsupplemental information can be identified and integrated into adiscussion thread.

Consider first the case of message 408. In this message 408, althoughthe user is engaged in a discussion of a book by the fictional authorJohn Smith, the user mentions a vacation to Cancun. In this illustrativecase, the word “Cancun” is a pre-registered keyword that automaticallycauses the online merchant to annotate the discussion board with anidentifier 702. This identifier 702 invites the user to review furtherinformation regarding vacation packages to Mexico. The online merchantmight also provide an eye-catching symbol or picture 704 to betterdirect the user's attention to this identifier 702.

Consider next the case of message 414. This message 414 responds tomessage 408. It mentions a certain item, a fictional sunburn lotionnamed SoothAid Max. In this case, the inclusion of this item name in theconversation thread prompts the discussion board presentation 700 todisplay a series of items that are related to the SoothAidMax item. Thatis, the identified items may include other suntan lotions, and may alsoinclude the item SoothAidMax itself.

More specifically, FIG. 7 shows that the online merchant can present therecommendations in a display panel 706. In one case, the discussionboard presentation 700 automatically presents this display panel 706upon the detection of the keyword “SoothAidMax.” In another case, thediscussion board presentation 700 presents the display panel 706 inresponse to a rollover event (in which the user moves a mouse cursorover a “Recommendation?” identifier 708). In another case, thediscussion board presentation 700 presents the display panel 706 onlywhen the user expressly clicks on the identifier 708. Still furtherpermutations are possible.

The exemplary marketing rationale here is that, if the user is engagedin a discussion regarding a certain item, there is a chance that theuser is interested in purchasing such an item or a related item. Here,the particular item (suntan lotion) is somewhat tangential to the reasonthat the user, MonticelloBlues, is probably taking part in thediscussion, but one can readily envision examples in which the user isin a heated debate regarding the merits of some particular kind ofmerchandise, such as a music CD by a certain artist. In this case,seeding the discussion board presentation 700 with item recommendationsmay be highly effective in inducing the participants of the discussionto purchase items that are germane to the discussion.

The recommendations can also be specifically tailored for the user, inthis case the user MonticelloBlues. For instance, the online merchantcan maintain detailed records regarding purchases and other onlineselections made by the user, as well as other profile informationregarding the user. Such other online selections can compriseclick-through events, rollover events, shopping cart selections, itemreviews posted by the user, wish list selections, and so on. Moregenerally, all such activity captures the user's online behavior, muchof which may be directed to interaction with one or more catalogues ofmerchandisable items. The online merchant can use this information as aguide to further refine the recommendations and other supplementalinformation given to the user. For example, assume that the user,MonticelloBlues, has purchased several DVDs. The online merchant canleverage this knowledge to present recommendations that invite this userto purchase a movie version of a book being discussed in the thread. Asanother example, assume that the user, MonticelloBlues, has purchasedseveral books in the same genre as the book being discussed in thethread, but in a well-defined niche of that genre. The online merchantcan leverage knowledge of the user's buying patterns to presentrecommendations (or other supplemental information) that is both basedon what is being discussed in the discussion board and the interests ofthe user.

In another case, the online merchant can provide recommendations to theuser based on the user's relationship to some other user or users, suchas a family member or friend. The online merchant is alerted to such arelationship, for instance, when the user expressly notifies the onlinemerchant of this relationship, or through some other means. In thisscenario, the online merchant can assess the interests of the personthat has some relationship to the user (in same manner described above,e.g., by mining transactional data stores maintained by the onlinemerchant). The online merchant can then provide item recommendations tothe user relating to that person's interests, thereby inviting the userto purchase a gift for that person. This form of marketing can bepotentially particularly effective in those cases in which the user isengaged in a conversation with the other person in the discussion board,as the user is apparently already thinking of the other person (whilereading their post) when the user is presented with an offer to purchasea gift for that person. If appropriate, the online merchant can evenpresent recommended items that have some relationship to the content ofthe message posts authored by the other person.

In another case, the online merchant can provide recommendations to theuser that are based on the assessed characteristics of the user (such asthe past purchases made by the user or other online behavior) withoutregard to the content of the messages in the discussion board.

More generally, recommendations can be based any number ofconsiderations, such as: (a) any prior behavior of the user that isindicative of the user's interests; (b) the collective prior behavior ofmany users that is indicative of certain trends in these users'interests; (c) the characteristics of the user (e.g., gender, age,geographic location, etc.), and so on. The behavior can be collectedover multiple user sessions, thus, for instance, forming estimates of auser's interests over an extended period of time.

In one exemplary and non-limiting implementation, recommendations can begenerated using the techniques described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,266,649 and6,853,982. In these techniques, a user who is known to be interested initem X is assumed to be interested in item Y if a significant number ofusers who have an interest in item X are determined to also have aninterest in item Y. Thus, in the context of a discussion board, if themessage content identifies the product X, then the recommendation enginecan provide an identifier which provides a link to the product Y.Various filters, neural networks, rule-based engines, heuristics,experts systems, and so forth can be used to further refine the analysisused to generate recommendations. To cite one example, more advancedanalysis can be used to detect the general theme of a discussion thread,so that only items that are germane to the general theme are presented.This model might preclude the kind of tangential recommendations shownin FIG. 7, where the identified item is not relevant to the main thrustof the conversation.

In another exemplary implementation, users can explicitly defineidentifiers when they create their respective messages. For instance,when creating a post, a user can add an identifier which links to anykind of supplemental information, such as an item-related recommendationsponsored by the online merchant that hosts the discussion board, oranother recommendation administered by the user himself/herself. Forinstance, a user can add an identifier which links to the user's ownwebsite.

A.5. Functionality for Editing and Replying

Advancing to FIG. 8, this figure shows a discussion board presentation800 that is still another variation of the user interface presentation400 discussed above. In this presentation 800, an inline editing tool802 is presented which allows the user, MonticelloBlues, to edit his orher message 410. The tool 802 is inline because it appears in thesequence of messages in which the message 410 normally appears. The tool802 includes commands that allow the user to delete the post, cancel thepost, or to post the edited reply.

Although not shown, a similar tool can be used by the user to enter acompletely new message, e.g., in response to another message. After theuser enters a new post, the new post is placed at the end of thechronological sequence.

B. Exemplary Systems (FIGS. 9-12)

In the following section, the terms “logic,” “module” or “functionality”generally represent hardware, software or a combination of hardware andsoftware, or any other kind of implementation. For instance, in the caseof a software implementation, the terms “logic,” “module,” or“functionality” represent program code that performs specified taskswhen executed on a processing device or devices (e.g., CPU or CPUs). Theprogram code can be stored in one or more computer readable memorydevices.

B.1. System Overview

FIG. 9 shows an overview of one particular online system 900 forimplementing the user interface features described in the previoussections. In this system 900, a plurality of devices (902, 904, . . .906) are coupled to an operations center 908 by a coupling mechanism910. A plurality of users use the respective devices (902, 904, . . .906) to interact with the operations center 908.

The operations center 908 can generally represent equipment maintainedby an online merchant, although the principles described herein can beimplemented by any other kind of commercial or non-commercial entity. Interms of physical implementation, the operations center 908 can beimplemented as one or more server computers (e.g., as a “farm” of suchcomputer servers) and associated databases. In conventional manner, thearchitecture of the operations center 908 can be separated intofront-end components which interface directly with the devices (902,904, . . . 906) and back-end components which can perform offlineanalysis. Generally, the components of operations center 908 can belocated at a single site, or distributed over plural sites.

The devices (902, 904, . . . 906) can represent any kind of electronicunit which can interact with the operations center 908 via the couplingmechanism 910. In the most common case, the devices (902, 904, . . .906) correspond to some kind of conventional computer device, such as apersonal computer, a laptop computer, and so forth. But any of thedevices (902, 904, . . . 906) can also correspond to any kind ofwearable computer, a mobile telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA) device, a stylus-type input device, a game console device, and soforth. In any event, a device, such as exemplary device 902, cancomprise a processing unit 912 and a presentation unit 914. Theprocessing unit 912 generally comprises functionality for processinginformation. The presentation unit 914 generally corresponds tofunctionality for presenting the processed information and additionallyallows the user to interact with the device 902. The presentation unit914 can provide a graphical user interface 916 for interacting with theuser.

The coupling mechanism 910 can correspond to any kind of communicationconduit or combination of communication conduits. In the case mostcommonly evoked in this disclosure, the coupling mechanism 910corresponds to a wide area network, such as the Internet. However, thecoupling mechanism 910 can alternatively, or in addition, comprise otherkinds of communication conduits, such as an intranet, point-to-pointcoupling arrangement, and so forth. In any case, the coupling mechanism910 can include any combination of hardwired links, wireless links,routers, repeaters, gateways, name servers, and so forth (not shown),governed by a protocol or combination of protocols.

The discussion board presentation features described in the previoussection can be implemented by a combination of functionality provided atthe operations center 908 and functionality provided at the devices(902, 904, . . . 906). Namely, to serve this role, the operations center908 includes an operations center (OC) discussion board functionality918, while the device 902 includes client discussion board functionality920. As will be discussed below, the OC discussion board functionality918 can administer the discussion boards by storing messages that havebeen posted by users, and by disseminating annotated messages to thedevices (902, 904, . . . 906) in response to user requests. Thesemessages populate the discussion boards. The client discussion boardfunctionality 920 can handle various local aspects of the operation ofthe discussion board (for device 902), such as by executing, based onlocal code, the rollover behavior shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, etc.

B.2. Exemplary Operations Center

FIG. 10 shows exemplary features of the operations center 908. It willbe appreciated that the operations center 908 performs many functions,only a subset of which are relevant to the generation and administrationof discussion boards. Hence, FIG. 10 shows only those components of theoperations center 908 which are pertinent to the focus of thisdisclosure.

The operations center 908 includes a user interface module 1002 forreceiving selections from the users, and for generating output to theusers. For instance, the input may comprise requests by the user to viewcertain discussion boards, requests to post new messages, requests toedit messages, and so forth. The output comprises the data used, inconjunction with the client discussion board functionality 920, toconstruct the user interface presentations described in the precedingsection. The interface module 1002 interacts with the OC discussionboard functionality 918.

The OC discussion board functionality 918 includes a discussion boardengine 1004 that performs the main task of storing messages in a usermessage store 1006, and for retrieving messages from this store 1006 foroutput to users. The discussion board engine 1004 also includes alinking/identifying module 1008. The purpose of this module 1008 is todefine the relationships among different messages in the discussionboard presentation, and to establish the identifiers that implementthese relationships. The linking/identifying module 1008 also serves torelate messages in the discussion board presentation with othersupplemental information, such as item-related information, and toestablish the identifiers that implement these relationships. Thelinking/identifying module 1008 also serves to customize the discussionboard presentation for use by a particular user who will interact withthe presentation; it does this by annotating the presentation withidentifiers that are specifically tailored to the user. Thelinking/identifying module 1008 can determine the identity of the userby virtue of sign-in ID information that the user enters to gain accessto the discussion board presentation or some other application, or byusing some other kind of identification mechanism.

To perform the above-described roles, the linking/identifying module1008 can draw on a number of data stores maintained by the operationscenter 908, including a user profile store 1010, an item informationstore 1012, and various other potential stores 1014 not mentioned byname. The user profile store 1010 maintains information regarding theusers, such as any aspect of the users' online behavior (includingpurchases made by the users, shopping cart selections, page viewselections, etc.), other user characteristics (gender, age, geographiclocation, etc.), and so on. The item information store 1012 providescatalogue information regarding a plurality of items merchandisedthrough the system 900. Each of the data stores can be implemented as adatabase, as a single repository of information or multiple distributedrepositories of information.

FIG. 11 illustrates, on a high-level conceptual basis, the operation ofthe linking/identifying module 1008. As indicated there, in response toa request from a user, the discussion board engine 1004 retrieves aplurality of messages from the message store 1006 and arranges thesemessages in chronological order for presentation to the user. In FIG.11, the chronological presentation of messages is metaphoricallyrepresented by the top surface of a multi-layer “cube,” having one axiscorresponding to time. This “surface” of the conversation is thedimension that is most readily “visible” to the user.

The linking/identifying module 1008 establishes links between themessages on the top “surface” of the conversation and supplementalinformation. Some of these links point to other messages in the sequenceof messages (as in the “In reply to” and “You replied on” identifiers).Other of these links point to non-message-related information, such asitem information, user profile information, and so forth. In any event,the linking can be viewed as metaphorically connecting the “surface” ofthe conversation with various other layers of the conversation that maynot be immediately “visible” to the user. The user can optionally invokethese other layers. Due to the optional nature of the activationstrategy, the other layers do not clutter and obfuscate the otherwisestraightforward presentation of a chronological sequence of messages.

B.3. Exemplary Client Device

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary architecture of the representative userdevice 902 (introduced in the context of FIG. 9). The device 902 cancorrespond to any kind of conventional computer device, but can alsocorrespond to any other kind of unit having processing and presentationcapabilities (e.g., a PDA device, mobile telephone, game console, and soforth).

The processing unit 912 of device 902 can comprise one or moreprocessing components 1202 (such as a CPU, neural network, etc.), RAM1204, ROM 1206, media components 1208 (such as a hard drive, DVD drive,etc.), network interface 1210 (such as a telephone or cable modem,broadband connectivity mechanism, etc.), and an I/O interface 1212 forinteracting with input devices and output devices. One or more buses1214 couple the above-described components together. The output devicescan include the presentation unit 914, which presents the graphical userinterface 916. The input devices 1216 can include any one or more of akeyboard, mouse input device, track ball input device, joystick inputdevice, and so forth.

In one implementation, when the user requests any new information fromthe discussion board presentation, the client device 902 can requestthis information from the operations center 908. For instance, in thisscenario, when the user activates the “You replied to” identifier 426 ofFIG. 5, the client device 902 makes a request to the operations center908 in order to display the display panel 502. In anotherimplementation, the client device 902 can handle many user requestswithout contacting the operations center 908. For example, the clientdiscussion board functionality 920 can initially download a collectionof annotated messages in response to a request from the user to accessthe discussion board presentation. The client discussion boardfunctionality 920 can provide logic which draws from this collection ofdata when the user makes a request that can be satisfied by this data,without requiring communication with the operations center 908. In otherwords, for certain operations, the device 902's “serverless” interactionwith the user is not prohibited, e.g., not blocked. For instance, inthis design, the device 902 can present the display panel 502 when theuser activates the identifier 426 without contacting the operationscenter 908, by locally relying on the previously received annotatedmessage data and by invoking local logic used to draw the display panel502. One exemplary technique for implementing this kind of non-blockinglocal control uses asynchronous JavaScript and XML.

C. Exemplary Procedures (FIGS. 13 and 14)

The remaining figures (FIGS. 13 and 14) describe the operation of thediscussion board functionality (918, 920) in flow chart form. Tofacilitate discussion, certain operations are described as constitutingdistinct steps performed in a certain order. Such implementations areexemplary and non-limiting. Certain steps described herein can begrouped together and performed in a single operation, and certain stepscan be performed in an order that differs from the order employed in theexamples set forth in this disclosure. The steps shown in the flowchartscan be implemented by software, hardware, a combination of software andhardware, or by other technology, and can generally be implemented by asingle module or any combination of modules. As the preceding sectionshave explained the subject matter imparted by FIGS. 13 and 14 at length,this section serves primarily as summary and review.

FIG. 13 shows a procedure 1300 for invoking the discussion boardpresentation.

In step 1302, the operations center 908 receives the user's invocationof a discussion board presentation. This invocation can be received viaany kind of portal page or other mechanism, such as the product-relatedpage 308 shown in FIG. 3.

In step 1304, the operations center 908 advances the user to the invokeddiscussion board presentation. This operation involves compiling andidentifying a group of messages, and forwarding the thus-annotatedmessages to the user for display at the client device 902.

More specifically, FIG. 14 shows a procedure 1400 that describes themanner in which the discussion board presentation is compiled for theuser, and the manner in which the user interacts with the presentation.

In step 1402, the operations center 908 establishes the messages to bepresented to the user and establishes the links associated with themessages. The links point to other messages or other supplementalinformation (such as item-related information).

In step 1404, the operations center 908 formats the discussion boardpresentation for output to the user.

In step 1406, the operations center 908 processes user actions, inconjunction (optionally) with the client discussion board functionality920. Possible user actions include, but are not limited to, the user'sactivation of linked identifiers, the user's reply to a message, theuser's editing of a message, the user's termination of the discussionboard session, and so forth. As described previously, activation of anidentifier can prompt the retrieval of linked supplemental information,such as a linked message, item-related information, and so on. Recallthat, with reference to FIG. 10, the messages can be stored in a usermessage data store 1006. In the case where the supplemental informationrepresents recommendations, such recommendations can be mined frominformation in various stores (e.g., stores 1010, 1012, 1014) maintainedby the online merchant or other entity(ies).

In closing, although the invention has been described in languagespecific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to beunderstood that the invention defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claimed invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computerized method comprising: maintaining alist of keywords in a memory associated with a service provider;receiving, from a first device of a first author at a first time, afirst message for posting in a discussion board associated with theservice provider; receiving, from a second device of a second author ata second time, a second message for posting in the discussion board, thesecond message being related to the first message; creating a messagelink that relates the first message and the second message; determiningthat at least one of the first message or the second message includes akeyword included in the list of keywords; determining at least onerecommended item based at least in part on the keyword, the at least onerecommended item including at least one product or service that isseparate from the discussion board and that is offered for sale;determining at least one interest of the first author or the secondauthor from a source other than the first message and the secondmessage; determining supplemental information regarding the at least onerecommended item based at least in part on the at least one interest;causing display of the discussion board via a user device, thediscussion board presenting the first message and the second message inchronological order based at least in part on the first time and thesecond time; causing one or more thread identifiers corresponding to themessage link to be displayed in the discussion board with at least oneof the first message or the second message; causing an item identifierto be displayed in the discussion board with the at least one of thefirst message or the second message that included the keyword;receiving, via first express user input, a first activation of a threadidentifier of the one or more thread identifiers displayed with one ofthe at least one of the first message or the second message; based atleast in part on the first activation of the thread identifier, causingan other one of the first message and the second message to be presentedby the user device in a message display panel that at least partiallycovers the first message or the second message; receiving, via secondexpress user input, a second activation of the item identifier; andbased at least in part on the second activation of the item identifier,causing the supplemental information regarding the at least onerecommended item to be presented via the user device in an item displaypanel that at least partially covers the first message or the secondmessage.
 2. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein: determining theat least one recommended item is further based at least in part on theat least one interest.
 3. The computerized method of claim 1, whereinthe determining the at least one recommended item is further based atleast in part on profile information associated with the first author ofthe first message.
 4. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein themessage display panel is a pop-up display.
 5. The computerized method ofclaim 1, further comprising extracting the supplemental information froma data store.
 6. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein: the firstauthor of the first message is a first user, the source is a first userprofile associated with the first user, the at least one interest is aninterest of the first user, the supplemental information is firstsupplemental information determined for presentation to the first userbased at least in part on the at least one interest, and thecomputerized method further comprises: determining a second user of aplurality of users posting messages to the discussion board; determiningat least one second interest of the second user based at least in parton a second user profile associated with the second user; anddetermining second supplemental information for presentation to thesecond user based at least in part on the at least one second interestof the second user.
 7. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein: thefirst author of the first message is a first user; the source is otherthan the first message, the at least one interest is an interest of thefirst user determined from the source, and the supplemental informationis determined, for presentation to the first user and a second user of aplurality of users posting messages to the discussion board, based atleast in part on the at least one interest of the first user.
 8. Thecomputerized method of claim 1, wherein the item identifier includes atextual identifier or a graphical identifier.
 9. The computerized methodof claim 1, wherein the second message comprises a user message enteredin response to the first message.
 10. A system for online communicationcomprising: one or more processing devices; and one or moremachine-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed,cause the one or more processing devices to perform operationscomprising: maintaining a list of keywords in a memory associated with aservice provider; receiving a first message from a first user profile ata first time for posting in a discussion board associated with theservice provider; receiving a second message from a second user profileat a second time for posting in the discussion board, the second messagebeing related to the first message; creating a message link that relatesthe first message and the second message; determining that at least oneof the first message or the second message includes a keyword includedin the list of keywords; determining at least one item to be recommendedbased at least in part on the keyword, the at least one item to berecommended including at least one product or service that is separatefrom the discussion board and that is offered for sale; determining atleast one interest associated with the first user profile or the seconduser profile from a source other than the first message and the secondmessage; determining supplemental information regarding the at least oneitem to be recommended based at least in part on the at least oneinterest; causing display of the discussion board via a user device, thediscussion board presenting the first message and the second message inchronological order based at least in part on the first time and thesecond time; causing one or more thread identifiers corresponding to themessage link to be displayed in the discussion board with at least oneof the first message or the second message; causing an item identifierto be displayed in the discussion board with the at least one of thefirst message or the second message that included the keyword;receiving, via first express user input, a first activation of a threadidentifier of the one or more thread identifiers displayed with the atleast one of the first message or the second message; based at least inpart on the first activation of the thread identifier, causing an otherof the at least one of the first message or the second message to bepresented via the user device in a message display panel that at leastpartially covers the first message or the second message; receiving, viasecond express user input, a second activation of the item identifier;and based at least in part on the second activation of the itemidentifier, causing the supplemental information regarding the at leastone item to be recommended to be presented via the user device in anitem display panel that at least partially covers the first message orthe second message.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the determiningthe at least one item to be recommended is further based at least inpart on one or more purchases associated with the first user profile.12. The system of claim 10, wherein the determining the at least oneitem to be recommended is further based at least in part on the seconduser profile.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the item identifierincludes a textual identifier or a graphical identifier.
 14. The systemof claim 10, wherein the discussion board includes an electronic forumthat allows multiple users to collaborate or to engage in discussions bymaintaining messages from the multiple users organized in at least onethread.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein the second message comprisesa user message entered in response to the first message.
 16. Anoperations center comprising: a message store; a computing deviceincluding at least one physical processing unit, the computing devicecommunicatively coupled to the message store and configured to at leastexecute: a discussion board engine that stores messages from adiscussion board stored in the message store; and one or morecomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least onephysical processing unit, cause the at least one processing unit to:maintain a list of keywords in a memory associated with a serviceprovider; receive, from a first device of a first author at a firsttime, a first message for posting in the discussion board associatedwith the service provider; receive, from a second device of a secondauthor at a second time, a second message for posting in the discussionboard, the second message being related to the first message; create amessage link that relates the first message and the second message inthe message store; identify a keyword in at least one of the firstmessage or the second message, the keyword included in the list ofkeywords; determine at least one interest of the first author or thesecond author from a source other than the first message and the secondmessage; determine supplemental information that is associated with thekeyword based at least in part on the at least one interest, thesupplemental information being information about at least one item to berecommended, including at least one product or service that is separatefrom the discussion board and that is offered for sale; causes displayof the discussion board via a user device, the discussion boardpresenting the first message and the second message with one or morethread identifiers corresponding to the message link and an itemidentifier being presented with a message of the first message or thesecond message in which the keyword was identified; receive, via firstexpress user input, a first activation of one of the one or more threadidentifiers presented with one of the at least one of the first messageor the second message; cause display via the user device of an other oneof the first message and the second message in a message display panelthat at least partially covers the first message or the second messagebased at least in part on receiving the first activation; receive, viasecond express user input, a second activation of the item identifier;and cause display via the user device of the supplemental information inan item display panel that at least partially covers the first messageor the second message based at least in part on receiving the secondactivation.
 17. The operations center of claim 16, further comprising: auser profile information store; and an item information store; the userprofile information store and the item information store beingcommunicatively coupled to the at least one physical processing unit,which identifies the supplemental information to be provided.
 18. Theoperations center of claim 16, wherein the discussion board includes anelectronic forum that allows multiple users to collaborate or to engagein discussions by maintaining messages from the multiple users organizedin at least one thread.
 19. The operations center of claim 16, whereinthe item identifier includes a textual identifier or a graphicalidentifier.
 20. The operations center of claim 16, wherein thediscussion board presents the first message and the second message inchronological order based at least in part on the first time and thesecond time.